


Denn Die Todten Reiten Schnell

by ifwegettherebysunset



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Angst, Blood, Body Horror, Dark, Gore, Grief/Mourning, Horror, Inspired by Pet Sematary, Jack's an Arrogant Dumbass, M/M, Magic, Monsters, Sort Of, Temporary Character Death, Undead, attempt at self-harm, graphic depictions of gore, so that doesn't change, very dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 12:22:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18446465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwegettherebysunset/pseuds/ifwegettherebysunset
Summary: Yusei is buried as he died: alone and helpless.Aki refuses to do anything about it.Jack does.[please heed tags before reading]





	Denn Die Todten Reiten Schnell

**Author's Note:**

> Yusei's characterization is purposely off.

"Sometimes dead is better."

_Pet Sematary_

* * *

Once he has the silver stake, it's surprisingly easy.

Wrap the stake in something he'd owned. Carve the symbols while muttering some text. Have  _intent_. Jack's good at intent―made of it. He doesn't need fancy powers for that.

Stab the stake in the center of the circle. And wait.

He's not good at patience, but it doesn't take long before fog rises from the ground.

A barrage of whispers, unintelligible, before―" _You cared deeply for him._ "

Jack clenches his fists. "I'd like to see who I'm speaking to."

A deep chuckle echoing with high shrieks digs into his ears. " _They usually do...well, why not?_ "

Something crackles outside the circle. Jack looks down to see the soil under the other gravestones gathering in little veins. They gather inches from Jack's boundary, but instead of dirt, blood seeps upwards. Old blood, perhaps as old as the corpses it came from. It forms something like flesh that stinks of rot. Jack covers his nose with a disgusted sound.

Shadows gather from hidden patches under the moonlight to hold the thing together. Two glowing lights burn in it. It writhes with the breeze, large even when hunched. The only solid parts Jack can see are the gnarled knobs of its spine and the fingers―claws of ash and soil, nails crusted and dripping with blood.

Jack grits his teeth. "You know why I summoned you."

" _Summoned_ _?_ " the creature says. It sounds like the forest brush crunching under slow footsteps. " _No. You sent a message to the Void. I deigned to listen._ "

"Hm. Doesn't matter."

" _Perhaps not to you._ " The lights narrow. " _Not yet._ "

"I want him back," Jack declares, pointing at the newest stone in the cemetery:  _FUDO YUSEI, FRIEND OF ALL_. 

The creature leans around the circle. " _I can see that._ "

"Well?"

Another chuckle. " _You're one of the arrogant ones._ " Jack scowls. " _But, as I said, you cared deeply. Still..._ " the creature draws back into its twisted hunch. " _I like this one. The price will be steep._ "

"You  _like_ him? What the hell does that mean?"

A hum, like a rattling tomb. " _You know of what I speak. This soul...it breathes starlight. I am of the dark, not of the shining moon. But if you wish to negotiate?_ "

Jack crosses his arms. "Obviously."

" _Obviously_ ," it mocks. " _And you know the consequences?_ "

"Of course I do!"

" _Truly?_ "

"Enough with the questions! Name your price and bring him back! Or am I just wasting my time?"

The trees seem to grow around them. Jack draws himself up as if he's bigger."

Another hum, higher. Considering. " _Jack Atlas. You love few things more than yourself. Fudo Yusei was your crown._   _King_ ," it spits, razor teeth spreading in a face-ripping grin.

Jack says nothing.

" _My price_ _, then_ ," the creature says at length, " _is a kiss_."

" _What_?"

" _Not on_ you _, Jack Atlas. I wish to kiss this beloved of yours. I did say I like him,_ " it simpers.

Jack grits his teeth. "Then you'll make him alive again?"

" _He will be undead, yes._ "

"...just one kiss."

" _Just one kiss._ "

The smile envelops the creature's shadowed head. Jack wonders how it can kiss anything.

He looks at Yusei's stone.

Staring at the creature's eyes burns him, but he persists.

"I accept."

The ground ripples under his feet. The insects seem to laugh with the wraith.

" _He will appear with the witching hour._ "

Jack opens his eyes to Poppo Time's ceiling.

* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Jack shoots up from the couch.

_Knock...knock. Knock._

"Whozzat?" Crow groans from where he's bent over the makeshift table, too tired to sleep.

_Knock...knock...knock._

"Persistent," Aki says quietly. She doesn't move from her spot next to Crow.

Jack gets up to answer it. Poppo Time's clock strikes three.

Aki's mug shatters.

"...Jack..." Yusei mumbles, "I'm tired."

He falls into Jack's arms, limp but for his vice grip. His nails are crusted with dirt, and his breathing is hoarse. His heart drags from beat to beat; Jack can feel it.

He carries him inside. Crow stumbles after them in breathless tears.

Aki's gaze bores into his back.

* * *

There was no saving him.

Yusei died before his body finished rolling. His head had been shredded. Bones and bits of his bike stabbed through his skin and clothes. The eye that hadn't been overtaken with ripped flesh stared wide and sightless at the truck's blazing headlights. In the papers, his corpse was a broken marionette.

Jack stares down at him now, dazed in the bath while Crow gently washes off the dirt. Not even a scar. Just pale as the moon.

Crow goes to get a towel, and Yusei looks back.

Jack forces down the unnerved wrench in his gut. It's just Yusei's eyes. He's just tired. They're  _all_ tired. It's been a rough month.

But now it's fixed, thanks to Jack.

Yusei turns away.

* * *

According to Aki, the Arcadia Movement housed a library that had more floors than the building it inhabited. At the top was Divine's personal collection―the ones he prized the most. Very few were allowed to see these shelves. Aki had been one of them.

Once, Yusei coaxed the rest out of her. Her lips were bloodless when she said, "There's one book...he opened it in front of me. When you touched it―your hands―" she'd held up her fingers. "They were covered in ash."

She said, "Divine showed me the last two pages. Only the last two pages."

 _Vita_ and _Mortem_ on the left. On the right, the final page, showed the two words overlapping in a mess of twisted ink.

Aki's fingers shook as she entwined them. "Life. And death. Coming together." She swallowed. "He...he ripped the pages out. And he gave them to me." Tears fly from her shaking head. "I burned them. I couldn't―"

Yusei gathered her close, Ruka not far behind with a comforting hand. They never asked her about it again.

* * *

Aki clearly wants to talk to him. Jack focuses on getting Yusei to bed. Despite the warm bath, Yusei is cold to the touch.

Crow's pulled up a chair in the hall, the weird bastard, but he doesn't say anything when Jack forcefully shuts the door. 

"Jack."

Yusei's curled in bed, just as he always did after consecutive all-nighters. The moon gleams in his eye.

"What happened?"

Jack undresses. "You walked all the way here like a dumbass. Couldn't find a phone?"

"I walked..." Yusei's gaze strays to the wall. "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep, then."

"...wasn't I asleep?"

Jack pauses.

"Jack." Yusei's voice starts shaking. "I was already sleeping, Jack. Wasn't I?"

"Stop talking nonsense, Yusei," Jack snaps, yanking off his pants. "And move over!"

He lies down next to him. Yusei remains on his side, facing him.

Slowly, he curls up to Jack, not making a sound when Jack drags him close and tight. He's so cold. His breath is hoarse again.

"Do you love me, Jack?" he whispers.

Jack closes his eyes. "Shut up, Yusei."

* * *

The next morning, Jack wakes to an empty bed. Panic seizes him, unbidden and annoying. He stomps out, only to find the bathroom door open and Yusei staring at the mirror above the sink.

Aki's lips purse when she sees Jack in the doorway. Yusei blinks slowly at him. Then he smiles like he used to.

"Jack," he murmurs, and goes to him. Jack doesn't stop glaring back at Aki as the cold embraces him. "I feel like I look different."

"Hm. Your hair's messed up," Jack replies, "More than usual."

"...I guess."

Yusei draws his eyes. Jack accepts his kiss, languid and deep. It doesn't matter that Aki's there. He gets to kiss Yusei again.

But when Yusei pulls back, his brow is slightly furrowed, and his expression is distant. He hums and brushes past Jack.

Aki flicks her wrist, and Jack's forced into the bathroom. The door slams behind him.

" _What did you do?_ " she hisses, eyes aflame.

Jack draws up to his full height. "What you were too cowardly to do."

Aki covers her face with her hands. "I was being  _sensible_ , Jack," she whispers. Her fingers move to her mouth. "Do you realize the magnitude of this? What was the price?"

Jack shrugs. "It wanted to kiss him. What?" he snaps at her wide eyes. "Damn thing didn't look like it could kiss anything anyway."

"That can't be right."

Jack scoffs. "That's what it said. One kiss, and Yusei would be alive."

" _No_ , Jack. He would be  _undead_."

"Same thing."

"No it's not!" Aki cries, "The undead are far from alive!" She shoves him. "How could you do this to him?!"

"You mean let him live his life?" Jack snarls.

"Don't give me that! You just wanted to―" she hugs herself. "Wanted what all of us wanted. To see him again, to touch him, to talk to him. But Jack...this isn't what he deserves. This is  _unnatural_."

Jack crosses his arms. "That's the point of magic."

Aki wipes the tears in her eyes. "You're wrong.  _Again_. Magic was born of the natural order. It's a shift, a bend, yes, that's why there's always a price. For me, it's energy. The being you called, though...that is from the Void. The living should never cross it. Why do you think I hid those pages?"

"Hid, not burned. Which means you intended to use them someday."

"No! I didn't burn them because―because I still loved Divine too much, no matter how evil they were. Jack, you have to understand. That creature―from what Divine told me, it. It  _never_ asks for a kiss."

Jack tosses his head away from the unsettled feeling in his chest. "So what?"

"It means Yusei is―"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Jack?" Yusei says.

Aki grabs Jack's lapel. "You need to let him go, Jack."

_Knock, knock, knock._

Jack slaps her hand away. "I'll do what I damn well please!"

"Jack?"  _Knockknockknock_. "Jack."

The knocks turn to bangs. Aki staggers back with a gasp.

"That...whatever you've brought back, Jack, is not Yusei. Not entirely."

Jack throws open the door.

For a moment, he sees a hunched spine and maniacal panic.

Yusei smiles at him. "I heard you yelling. Everything okay?"

* * *

Yusei runs his hand on his D-Wheel, still wrecked from the accident. Half of it's bent into itself.

"Sorry," Crow says, rubbing the back of his neck, "I tried to fix it, but. I'm not a mechanic."

Yusei pats the shattered front. "That's okay. I can do it." He seems genuinely delighted, just as Jack knew he'd be. Happy to be alive again, to be able to tinker with things.

Crow brightens. "Great! Then maybe we can duel―"

" _No_."

They all start at Yusei's snarl. His eyes are shadowed.

Aki's nails dig into Jack's shoulder.

"O-okay," Crow says, "Too soon. I get it. Do you need your toolbox?"

"...yes," Yusei murmurs.

They don't let him go outside.

* * *

Jack fucks him fast and hard.

Yusei moans like he's experiencing it for the first time. Maybe being dead for a while will do that to you.

But Jack won't think about that.

Yusei is here, Yusei is alive, and Yusei is kissing him, holding him, like he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

"Do you love me?" he breathes.

Jack groans in his ear.

When Yusei comes, he says, "A― _Jack_."

* * *

At the end of the week, Jack finds Yusei in the bathroom again, holding a knife to his face.

Jack snatches it from him. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Yusei tilts his head. That far-away look is back. "I don't look right. I..." he averts his gaze. "I feel like I should look different. More..."

He drags his bare fingers over the place his brain had been exposed.

Jack holds the knife out of his reach. Easy when Yusei's so damn short. "You're  _fine_ , Yusei. Fine!"

Yusei tilts his head. "Come on, Jack. It won't kill me."

His smile has too many teeth.

Jack blinks, and Yusei's lips are closed.

"Cut that shit out!"

Yusei frowns. He puts his hand on Jack's heart.

"Do you love me, Jack?"

Clutching the knife in his hand, Jack grips his chin and says, "Yes."

Black veins ripple under Yusei's skin. Jack blames the lighting.

"Good."

* * *

At the beginning of the second week, Crow calls Jack to Yusei's favorite view: overlooking the highways connecting the cities.

His arms are crossed as he leans against his D-Wheel.

"Figured you had something to do with it," he says.

Jack huffs. "Aki can't keep her mouth shut, huh? Whatever. I don't care who she tells."

"You fucked up, Jack," Crow replies. "The second I saw Yusei―"

"You were happy. You know you were."

"Until I really looked at him! Every time I see him―he's not  _right_."

Jack can't helping thinking of the knife.

Crow catches something in his face. "You know it too."

"It's fine―"

"It's not fine!"

"We can get that monster to put him all the way back!" Jack snaps.

"According to Aki, that's not how it works."

"Aki's been wrong before."

Crow throws his arms apart. "When it comes to magic, I definitely trust her word over yours.  _Especially_ when it concerns Yusei."

"What's  _that_ supposed to mean?"

Crow pivots to look at the highways.

After a moment, he says, "We're calling that thing. Tonight." He sighs. "I'll distract Yusei.  I feel like he shouldn't be around― _that_. Just."

He looks at Jack with anguished despair. 

" _Fix this_."

* * *

Aki mutters the spell with far more finesse than Jack, despite her trembling limbs. Yusei's grave, which had shown no sign of disturbance even after Yusei's return, doesn't move under them. Jack doesn't know why he expects it to.

"It works better under a full moon," Aki says when she's finished. "But hopefully the urgency's strong enough."

She backs into the center of the circle with Jack.

Dirt, blood, ash. Bones cracking into a prominent spine and stained teeth.

" _Change your mind?_ " it drawls.

Aki tries not to look it in the eye. "Yami―"

It wags its ashy claw. " _That's not my name, little witch._ "

"The living cannot say your true name."

" _Yet all mortals know it. And if you know it, then call me by it, or nothing at all._ "

"...as you wish," Aki replies. She hasn't stopped shaking. "We've called about Yusei."

It nods to the grave. " _I gathered. Are you not satisfied? I kept to my word._ "

"You didn't bring him back right!" Jack thunders, ignoring Aki's harsh rebuke.

" _But you said you knew the consequences_ ," the monster says innocently, " _I told you he would be undead. So he is._ "

"Death can't be fully reversed, Jack," Aki mutters sharply, "That power is beyond even this being's abilities."

" _Ah, a_ sensible  _one._ " The creature moves to the edge of the circle. " _Did you figure out my price, then?_ "

Aki swallows. She pins her eyes to her shoes, fists clenching. "You...you wanted to kiss him goodbye. Before you gave him back."

Jack starts. "What the hell are you talking about?"

An echoing chuckle. " _Stupid, arrogant Jack Atlas. I told you, but you didn't listen. His soul is starlight. What do you think a creature like me is going to do with it once I have it?_ "

"Claim it," Aki says tightly. "Jack. This being loves Yusei."

"Stop fucking with me!" Jack snaps.

" _Oh, but it's true. I'll admit it. For the first time in millennia, I know love. After he was yours, he became mine. He may kiss you now, but he will never forget my lips. Jack Atlas,_ " it adds with a laugh.

The trees giggle.  _Silly Jack Atlas._

Jack's lip curls. "Shut up! Bring him back like he's supposed to be!"

"Jack!" Aki hisses.

" _Do it_!"

The being draws back. Its facsimile head tilts.

" _You truly are blind_ ," it says with something close to astonishment.

"What is your price for reversing it?" Aki asks.

" _Aki_!" Jack yells.

" _Oh, I'm afraid only the one who bound the spirit can undo it._ " The burning coals turn to Jack. " _Will you, Jack Atlas? Will you kill your beloved a second time and return him to me?_ "

"Never!"

" _Then he will suffer, and it will be your fault!"_ it roars, " _And I will remember it, Jack_ _Atlas._ "

The shadows feed its height, until it encompasses the dome created by the circle.

" _Death_ never  _forgets._ "

"Jack?"

The being shrinks back down in a second.

Yusei walks slowly through the graves.

"Jack?" he calls.

The monster hisses in displeasure.

Jack smirks. "You're just a jealous monster."

"Jack," Aki groans.

Yusei spots him and smiles. "There you are. Crow said you'd be here."

Blood coats his gloves and sleeves.

The monster laughs.

"Yusei..." Aki whispers, "What have you done?"

Yusei blinks owlishly. "I had to find Jack."

The monster slides behind him. " _Your love, and your love alone, brought him to you, Jack Atlas. The undead exist by a thread. The rest remains Beyond and cannot be returned to the mortal flesh._ That  _is the main consequence. The rest..._ " its eyes burn into the dripping blood. " _Well. The undead care for nothing else._ "

Yusei slowly turns.

His mouth moves, but Jack only hears civilizations crumbling and shadows screaming. His ears spurt blood not matter how hard he tries to cover them.

Aki is panting through tears. "That is its name."

"Yusei!" Jack shouts.

Yusei smiles at him again. When Jack holds out his hand, he goes.

Only to flinch as his toe touches the edge of the circle.

He looks down at it, then back up at Jack. His face is twisted with heartbreak.

"Jack...why did you lock me out?" he asks. His voice is vacant. "Don't you love me?"

Jack doesn't give a damn who's watching. "Of course I do! That's why I did this!"

"Then why did you lock me out? Why don't you..." Yusei grips his hair. "Why don't you let me look the way I'm supposed to look?"

" _He knows, deep down, that he shouldn't be here_ ," the creature says gravely. It cups Yusei's chin, making Jack spit curses. " _That is the true suffering of the undead. The sense of Wrong._ "

The crumbling-screaming whispers from Yusei.

When she can speak again, Aki bites out, "No one but the living can cross this circle, Jack." She takes his arm. "Do you see now? Yusei isn't alive. You have to let go."

Jack squeezes his eyes shut. Imagines, in a silly fit of desperation, that he'll open his eyes to Yusei drinking coffee with one hand and typing furiously with the other. Imagines Yusei looking at him without the empty doll smile, but no less fondly. Imagines―

" _No, Yusei. Only one kiss. That was the bargain struck._ "

He opens his eyes instead to Yusei's hand wrist-deep in the shadows.

"But he doesn't love me," Yusei says. His voice has changed. Underneath it is a tomb. "You know what I'm supposed to look like. Don't you?"

The claw gently traces his forehead. Aki screams when, like a lightning flash, Yusei's briefly transformed into how he'd died: one eye flooded with blood, brain writhing, bones groaning.

" _Of course,_ " the creature says. Its tone is filled with longing, and Jack hates it.

Yet it withdraws its hand, and Yusei returns to normal. " _But that mortal does love you. He is just an arrogant fool._ "

"Then why did he lock me out?" Yusei asks despairingly.

" _Because they are afraid of me._ "

Jack opens his mouth. Aki finally slaps it shut.

Yusei hears the smack and whips around.

"You hurt him," he says.

Aki recoils. "Yusei, no―I was just trying―"

An animal wearing Yusei's clothes throws itself at the barrier.

"You hurt him!" it roars, "You hurt him,  _you hurt him_!"

Jack looks into the monster's eyes.

It answers his unspoken question. " _He will kill her. He has already ripped your other friend apart._ "

Aki's crying, pleading with Yusei.

No. Not Yusei.

Jack's vision blurs.

It's not Yusei. It's not―the only person he's every really loved is―

" _Accept it, Jack Atlas_ ," the creature intones. " _Release him._ "

Not-Yusei snarls and claws at the barrier with savage intent.

With numb lips, Jack says, "Name your price."

The creature hums in delight. " _Say goodbye._ "

Jack steps beyond the circle. Yusei stills in his arms.

"...do you love me, Jack?" Yusei whispers.

Jack buries his face in Yusei's shoulder. Cold. Rotting. Metallic with Crow's blood.

"I do," he murmurs, "Fuck. I love you so much."

Yusei sighs and hugs him tight. "Then I can stay."

Jack inhales. But he doesn't smell Yusei.

"No," he forces out.

Not-Yusei says nothing.

"Goodbye, Yusei."

...Yusei feels warm.

He pulls back, and his eyes shine, just like they should.

"Goodbye, Jack," he says, and it's  _Yusei_ , fuck, it's  _Yusei_ ―

Jack's crying.

The shadows swallow Yusei whole.

Jack Atlas falls to his knees.

Only Aki and the dead hear him scream.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Dracula: "for the dead travel fast."
> 
> this was written not too long after I saw Pet Sematary in theaters. This popped into my head and I just HAD to write it down! I hope it's as fun to read as it was to write :)


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